| Original caption: “Canadian troops have their Christmas Eve dinner amongst the debris of Ortona’s Santa Maria di Costantinopoli church December 24, 1943. After fifty-five years, twenty-nine Canadian veterans, who took part at the battle for the freedom of Ortona in 1943, and six of their German enemies, who tried to hold it in one of the toughest battles of the Mediterranean campaign, decided to meet in the rebuilt Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli for a reconciliation Christmas Eve mass and dinner.” The Seaforth Highlanders enjoy their Christmas dinner, in the bombed-out Church of Santa Maria di Constantinopoli, on Christmas Day 1943. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada mobilized for active service on September 1, 1939. It was redesignated “First Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, Canadian Active Service Force” on November 7, 1940. It embarked for the United Kingdom on December 20, 1939. The battalion landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943, and in Salerno, Italy on September 4, 1943, as part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli on Via Don Bosco in Ortona was built in the 13th century by Celestine Fathers. It was heavily damaged in World War II during the Battle for the town. Allied intelligence expected little resistance to the liberation of Ortona, which began on December 20, 1943. After bitter, hard fighting for the “gully” — a geographical depression about a kilometer (half mile) south of Ortona — which caused many casualties for both sides, the Canadians were told that 1.Fallschirmjäger-Division (“First Parachute Infantry Division”) was in full retreat across the Moro River. Instead, they dug in at Ortona. They mined buildings, and destroyed others to create fields of fire that funneled the Canadian infantry and tanks into killing zones of machine guns, anti-tank guns, mines, and snipers. The Canadians, taking heavy casualties, developed the technique of “mouse-holing.” Using the Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) or Teller mines, they would blow holes in walls of buildings to avoid walking down streets. Sometimes they would blow a hole and then toss grenades. Both sides would collapse buildings on soldiers. A Canadian survived being buried for 3 days. While the Loyal Edmonton Regiment occupied the 1st houses in the town, C Company, Seaforth Highlanders, ascended the Saraceni hillside after crossing the SS-16 road and passing the San Donato hillside. After a tough battle, the Regiment took the church of Santa Maria of Constantinople, in the far south-east of the town, and set up its Ortona military operations headquarters. On December 25, despite continued fighting in town, a Christmas dinner was held in the church courtyard. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada was the only unit temporarily pulled from the front. Elsewhere in Ortona’s rubble streets, luckier troops of The Loyal Edmonton Regiment managed to wolf down cold pork chops when not being fired upon. Nor would every Seaforth soldier attend. When 7-man section was informed that they could retire, their leader, Private Ernest “Smokey” Smith (May 3, 1914 – August 3, 2005) of New Westminster, British Columbia, refused to let them go. “I don’t know what goes through the minds of those people who are in charge of this,” he said, “but people are going to get killed going to that dinner and others are going to die coming back from it.” Quartermaster Captain Donald B. Cameron (June 20, 1911 – May 20, 1998) spent a busy morning fixing up the details for the Christmas Dinner to be held in the church occupied by Battalion Headquarters. The Protective Group sent parties of men around ruined houses in the town collecting chinaware. The setting for the dinner was complete, long rows of tables with white tablecloths; a bottle of beer per man, candies, cigarettes, nuts, oranges and apples and chocolate bars providing the extras. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sydney W. Thomson (November 14, 1914 – November 8, 2008), laid on that the companies would eat in relays in the order of C-A-B-D, as each company finished their dinner, they would then go forward and relieve the next company. The 1st company was to be in at 1100 Hours. 2 hours was to be allowed for each company for dinner. The menu for the dinner was soup, pork with applesauce, cauliflower with mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy, Christmas pudding, and mince pie. Lieutenant Wilf Gildersleeve (1916 – 2001) tried to find Christmas cheer in the bombed-out Ortona Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli. The Signals Officer of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada knew that just outside, amid the ruins of an Italian town far from home, the bloodshed continued. The vicious urban battle was destined to rage for several more days—not that he nor any of his comrades were aware of that at the time. For now, they gathered, laughed, ate, drank and, in Gildersleeve’s case, played music on the organ. He was never sure why he’d brought a hymn book with him from North Vancouver to wartorn Europe. Perhaps it was to remind him of when he once accompanied the choir at his local congregation. Perhaps, somehow, it was for this moment. Major Roy Durnford (November 16, 1902 – June 22, 1971), the regimental chaplain, observed the custom of officers serving the enlisted men their food. With Gildersleeve’s carols filling the air, he could have been forgiven for thinking that he, too, had been transported to a congregation back home. Beyond the chipped masonry, however, Durnford could hear the “deathly chatter of machine guns,” as he noted in his own diary at dinner. Earlier that day, D Company’s Lieutenant David I. “Davey” Fairweather (September 20, 1919 – September 15, 2017) had also expressed fears about there being “too much beer and liquor available.” Despite the limited ale, free-flowing wine had left him concerned that drunken battlefield mistakes could likely have “ended in disaster.” Nevertheless, for most Canadians, their brief stint at the Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli was the closest they’d ever get to either merriness or glad tidings in Ortona. Captain William L. Roberts (November 6, 1915 – December 8, 2003) wrote home: “Tonight I am sitting in a little Italian house on the edge of a town. (You can find out what town by checking back on the headlines.) I am with the Mortars and I feel fairly well at home now. There isn’t many left now, about a dozen out of the old forty-seven…” “I have seen a sight today that should be written up in every paper in Canada and the men responsible should get medals. Each company came out in their turn and had Xmas dinner in a church about 500 yds from the Jerries. It was a beautiful place and we had chairs, tables, table cloths and plates. The meal was pork, cauliflower, potatoes, applesauce, Xmas cake, pudding & coffee. There was nuts, oranges, apples, cigarettes and chocolate bars on the table. The food was cooked behind the altar and the non-commissioned officers and officers served it from there. The organ was playing in the loft and some of the boys sang carols. The sergeants and officers each had a bottle of scotch and all the boys had beer. It the finest thing I’ve ever seen and men who can do things like that can never lose. I’m pretty proud of the outfit and awfully glad I got the mortars again. I’m really lucky and I sure appreciate the new Colonel [Thomson] giving it to me.” However, future Victoria Cross recipient “Smokey” Smith was right. When Fairweather led his platoon out from the last rotation at 1900 Hours, a German shell landed amongst his troops. He later counted 1 dead and 2 wounded. That sentiment was certainly not lost on Gildersleeve, who played the church organ for hours, even after his fingers started to ache — aware that it could be worse. He was aware, too, that some of those he’d played to had savored their last supper. Gildersleeve himself would see his Vancouver congregation again. In the meantime, the dinner over, he replaced his helmet and walked outside. “When the last man of the Battalion reluctantly left the table to return to the grim realities of the day,” wrote the battalion diarist of the wrapped-up festivities, “there was an atmosphere of cheer and good fellowship in the church. A true Christmas spirit.” Photographer Terry F. Rowe (April 26, 1912 – February 6, 1944) was killed shortly after taking this photo at Anzio, when a shell hit the building the Canadian Army Photo Unit was using as a shelter. Rowe’s driver David King of Aldershot and Lieutenant Colin McDougall of Ottawa, the unit’s motion picture cameraman, were wounded. Rowe became famous for his June 1939 photos of King George the 5th and his wife the Queen Consort, Elizabeth. A correspondent for the Winnipeg Tribune before the war, Rowe was photographing the 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) at the time of his death. On December 25, 1998, 55 Seaforth Highlander veterans returned to a rebuilt Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli. 6 German veterans were welcomed to join them. The reconstituted Church retains the medieval-style façade only; the interior is baroque, alternating with postwar reconstructions, such as the false Byzantine-style fresco of the Madonna and Child. The Ortona dinner has entered Canadian military lore as 1 of the great defiant acts under fire. The 72nd Seaforth Highlander Cadets continue to hold a Christmas dinner in honor of the Ortona dinner every year. On March 14, 1945, the Seaforth Highlanders moved with the I Canadian Corps to Northwest Europe, where it fought until the end of the war. The overseas battalion was disbanded on October 31, 1945. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0656.jpg |
| Image Size | 179 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 900 x 770 |
| Photographer | Terry F. Rowe |
| Photographer Title | Canadian Army Photo Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 25, 1943 |
| Location | Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli |
| City | Ortona |
| State or Province | Abruzzo |
| Country | Italy |
| Archive | Library and Archives of Canada |
| Record Number | PA-152839 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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